Nick Jonas Gets Real About Miley, Jay Z, And Kanye

In the midst of prepping his recently-announced upcoming album and his summer tour with Demi Lovato, Nick Jonas took time to revel in the oddities of Reddit on Thursday with a lengthy AMA (Ask Me Anything) session.

The 23-year-old began by describing himself as “a cigar enthusiast, golfer, tuna fish sandwich artist, uncle, diabetic, snowboarder, singer, songwriter, actor, and recovering teen star.” In his intro, Nick revealed that Jay Z helped him pick the title of his new album, Last Year Was Complicated (more on that below), and he also snagged the opportunity to plug his new music video with Tove Lo (“The video is possibly NSFW depending on how cool your boss is,” he cheekily wrote).

With those formalities out of the way, the self-described “open book” got down to business, answering a wide-ranging submission of questions. Here’s what we learned:

Nick has nothing but nice things to say after one user asked, “Thoughts on your ex Miley’s new(ish)… persona? Have you talked to her lately?”

“It’s been a while since I spoke to Miley, but I think that the persona is awesome and I think that she is living proof that you can continue to evolve as an artist and a creator,” Nick wrote. “And I’m a huge Woody Allen fan, so I’m looking forward to seeing the show that she’s doing with him.”

Asked, “How did you feel about the South Park episode where Mickey beat the shit out of one of you guys and made you wear the purity rings?” Nick was honest about not loving it at first.

“When it first came out I didn’t think it was funny to be honest, but probably because I was actually living all of that in real time and so it just made it harder to come and live your life as a young person and have all that going on,” he wrote. “But years later and once the purity rings were no longer around, it was very funny to me and I’ve actually watched the episode a few times.”

“Shooting the video itself was amazing,” Nick wrote. “I knew that she would be famous when it came to the visuals for this video, which made the whole thing feel a lot better, because we do basically strip down to our underwear and roll around on the ground together. Which was…a little painful at times! But, a really fun video to shoot, and I loved seeing the reactions.”

“Basically I went to play the music for Jay Z, who’s now partners with my manager, Phil McIntyre,” Nick revealed. “When he heard the record, I said, ‘I think I have a title picked out,’ and I told him. And he said, ‘After hearing all the music, I don’t think it’s quite right. I think you should try thinking of some other things. Can you just tell me what this year of your life was like?’ And I said, ‘Last year was complicated.’ And he said, ‘That’s it.’ So he kinda helped me pick out the title, and having Jay Z in the corner was a good thing.”

“I think ‘A Little Bit Longer’ is still up there on my list of songs that are closest to me, but as time’s gone on you know in my solo stuff there’s more, and there’s more on this new record that I’m really looking forward to people hearing,” Nick wrote. “One in particular called ‘Chainsaw’ and a song called ‘Unhinged.’

“And then with the brother stuff, I constantly go back and reminisce about the music that we released together and touring and you know it was some of the best years of my life,” he continued. “So you know, thinking back to some of those records that we released and got to play was really fun.”

For anyone living with diabetes.. Or any disease that complicates your life in any way.. Just know you are not alone.

“Coping with diabetes is tough, regardless of what you do and how busy your schedule is,” he said. “I’ve had challenges over the last couple years managing it. Thankfully I’ve got a great doctor, and great tools that I use that help me kinda keep it all together. And you know, your A1C is gonna go up and down, so I’d just say try to stay encouraged, and if you check it as much as you can and you have a CGM, that’s really helpful as well, and just kinda stay on top of it.”

“Me and cold brew have a really beautiful relationship. It’s always been there for me and it’s been a really really good friend in times of need,” he said. And after another Reddit user challenged him by asking, “Why the fuck do you call it cold brew when it’s JUST. ICED. COFFEE?” Nick had the absolute best response.

“I don’t know, that’s what it’s called. Someone said that one time, and I tried it, and it was amazing. And it’s changed my life. Why the fuck do you not call it cold brew if it’s JUST. ICED. COFFEE?” BOOM!

“What is one thing about being a Disney channel star that would surprise people (not meant to be shitstirring, just something about the industry that people wouldn’t know about)?” one user asked.

“As far as one thing people don’t know, I think the main thing is that it does actually give you good perspective on work ethics,” Nick answered. “People confuse being a young Disney star with just the pressures that you face which is one piece to it, but it’s more than just that.”

“If I could be any other profession, I’d like to be a professional athlete of some sort,” he spilled. “Either a baseball player or a golfer. I don’t know if that’s still in the cards for me, but that would have been it.”

I just witnessed the most brilliant theater production I’ve ever seen. Hamilton the Broadway show is truly outstanding in ever way.

“Yes, the show is incredible, one of the best things I’ve seen on stage and I think ‘Satisfied’ is probably my favorite song on the cast album and in the show. It’s just amazing,” he gushed.

Asked why he doesn’t let his curls grow out again, Nick said, “I like the short hair! It’s easily manageable, and, I don’t know…I don’t even know if I grew it back out, if it would be curly again. My hair went back and forth a lot as a kid, being curly and not. So, I don’t know. It could just come out straight, there’s no way of planning these things.

“Also the fact that I think there’s an association with me as a young person with that hair,” he continued. “It needs to be a little while before I have it again.”

“Speaking of sexy, I wear boxer briefs,” he said. “The combo package is the best package to hold the package.”

“It’s hard to explain, but basically I approach everything I do with a certain level of care and excellence,” Nick wrote. “I feel like it’s important to really be fearless when approaching any art form. And that’s not limited to making tuna fish sandwiches. So, sometimes it’s about really applying yourself, pushing that experience into this piece of art, so that each bite is overflowing with true care and excellence. Thank you.”

“I’d love to work with Kanye, and at some point in time Prince would be amazing as well,” he said. “I had the chance to perform with Stevie Wonder at the Grammys with my brothers and play with Paul McCartney at the Whitehouse, so Prince is kinda like the completion to my Holy Trinity of music.”